Marc Vanasse, CPA, CA

Experience

In addition to heading the Tax Services group at PwC’s Montreal office, he leads the firm’s national Tax Dispute Resolution team. As a member of the Montreal office’s Executive Committee, the Quebec leadership group and the national Tax leadership group, he takes part in various PwC decision-making forums. Maintaining an active presence in the business community, Marc works closely with numerous major clients.

Marc joined PwC in 2011. He has over 28 years of experience in various areas of Canadian tax in both the public and private sectors, including 20 years in the Income Tax Rulings Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), where he was director of the Reorganizations and Resources Division and director of the Business and Partnerships Division. He also served on the CRA’s General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) Committee, the Technical Committee on Business Taxation (Mintz committee) and the Taxable Benefits Committee.

Marc has worked with the Department of Finance on numerous legislative changes, including tax shelters, partnerships, corporate reorganizations, income trusts and green energy initiatives. He met regularly with CRA appeals officers and Department of Justice lawyers to discuss cases proceeding to court. He has mediated numerous technical tax disputes between CRA auditors and taxpayers involving issues ranging from employee/shareholder benefits to corporate surplus stripping, resource taxation and estate planning. Marc was instrumental in managing and issuing numerous complex and sensitive advance income tax rulings and interpretations.

Marc obtained a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Quebec in Outaouais in 1985 and became a Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) in 1987. He has given presentations on behalf of the CRA and PwC at numerous conferences and seminars organized by the Canadian Tax Foundation, the Tax Executives Institute and the Quebec Association of Tax and Financial Planning (APFF), among others.